The Life Before Death
by TheDoctor'sGirl0107
Summary: This is only Chapter one, but this is the story of HOW jack skellington and zero arrived in halloween town...still alive! I hope you all enjoy, this is my first story that ive ever written and published! i normally only share my stories with my best friend kelsey, who has an account on here. She is an amazing author! you should check out her stories too! i hope you like this one!


Chapter One: The First Day.

Jack Skellington walked along a pathway shadowed by naked tree branches. His faithful friend Zero walked right by his side, merrily trotting along.  
"Oh Zero," Jack sighed. "You are my only true friend. You are the only one who gets me." The little dog kooked his ears and tilted his head."I'm glad that I still have you." While talking to his best friend Zero did make him feel a little better, Jack still couldn't help but feel alone. He had awoken one day in the woods, no memory of his parents. No memory of his friends either. Only the fact that he had his dog Zero, and his name. Jack Skellington. He continued to walk down the path in the woods up until he came upon a clearing. "That's odd..." Jack said, noting the fact that the clearing was surrounded by a perfect circle of trees. Jack walked to the dead center of the clearing. Zero was hesitant to follow. "C'mon Zero! What's wrong?" he asked. Zero reluctantly followed him in. They both were now dead in the middle of the circle, surrounded by the circle of trees. "Do you think maybe it's a construction site?" Jack thought aloud. Zero barked in return. "Oh wait... look! There's a symbol on each tree. It looks like each on is for a...holiday! Look! There's Thanksgiving, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Valentines Day, Easter, The Fourth of July and-" Jacks eyes grew wide. He had realized that he can remember holidays! "Zero! How on Earth can I still remember all of these?" He was dumbfounded. "Look...it's Halloween!" Jack remembered that Halloween was his favorite holiday. He could still remember that he used to dress up, and go trick or treating too! At least he could remember that. Jack wondered about what else was locked up in his mind. He walked toward the tree with a big pumpkin on it. Zero barked in protest. "It'll be fine Zero!" Jack said, grabbing the door knob and turning it. With a satisfying clunk, the door swung open. Jack felt a cool breeze whip through his hair. "See Zero? Nothing to-" Jack got cut off when he was abruptly sucked into the hollow tree, leading to uncharted areas. Zero quickly followed. "ZERO! HELP!" Jack cried as they were both transported through some portal-like passage way. They crashed down into a town. A creepy town at that. "Zero...wh-where are we?" Jack asked. Zero only barked in return.  
"Who are you?" Jack heard a voice say. He looked up to see a rather short, plump man wearing a tall hat. He had a ribbon pinned onto his jacket that read "mayor."  
"Y-you...are you the mayor?" Jack asked.  
"Why yes I am!" The mayor said, rather happily. Jack noticed he was holding plans for a project. "Now tell me, who are YOU?" By now, a crowd of all sorts of monsters and ghouls and ghosts had gathered to watch. They all formed a circle around The mayor, Jack, and Zero.  
"On ONE condition." Jack said. The mayor's face changed. It went from a smile to a frown, but it had spun. How had he done that? Jack couldn't tell. "You gotta tell me where I am first."  
"Of course! You are in the wonderful town of Halloween!" He replied, his face switching back. "Now... your name?"  
"Jack...Jack Skellington." Jack replied.  
"Jack Skeleton? Why what a wonderful name! Skeleton. You already seem like you belong here! Aside from you having flesh, and a real dog. What's his name?" The mayor asked.  
"Zero." Jack replied. "And my last name is SKELLINGTON, not skeleton." Zero kooked his ears and barked. All of the people of Halloween Town watched in silence. They had never seen a human before.  
"We have been looking for a new ruler of Halloween Town, Jack." The mayor said.  
"What? New? What happened to your old leader?" Jack asked.  
"Let's just say...Do NOT drink the lake water." The Mayor said. Jack gulped.  
"W-well what about you? Aren't you the mayor?" Jack asked.  
"Yes but I'm only an elected official! I can't make decisions on my own. Besides, what have you to go back to now? You can't remember anything about your past life, now can you?" Jack was baffled. How had he known that? They had just met!  
"H-how did you-..." Jack couldn't find the words to say.  
"Doesn't matter, dear boy." One of the crowd members chimed in. Jack looked up from the mayor, startled. Jack was taller than all of them. At least by a good two feet. He looked back down at a man with a large cranium. He was in a wheel chair.  
"What?" Jack asked.  
"It doesn't matter HOW we knew, we just did. Now, tell me, you are not from here are you?"  
"No." Jack replied.  
"My thoughts exactly fleshy boy. You don't know WHERE you're from, do you?" The man in the wheel chair replied.  
"...No." Jack replied sadly.  
"So, what would be wrong with you staying here and being our ruler if you've no home to go back to? Hm?" He did have a point. Jack really didn't see a better option. It hadn't occurred to him that he didn't have a home to go back to when it got cold at night.  
"So, will you stay here with us?" The mayor asked. "Will you be our ruler? President? King? whatever you prefer, really." The Mayor replied. What choice did he have? Jack looked down at Zero, who seemed quite happy here. At least they would have shelter.  
"O.K, I'll stay here with you. Not like I've got a home to go back to anyways." Jack said.  
"Oh good! Now, Pumpkin King, shall we get started on your tour?" The mayor asked. Jack laughed.  
"Pumpkin King, huh? Haha! I like it! And sure, let's go." Jack replied.  
"Excellent! Follow me." The mayor said. Jack did so. "So, here is Town Square, where on every Halloween, we celebrate. And here is-"  
"Do you also celebrate other holidays?" Jack asked.  
"Um, no. We only celebrate Halloween. It's only the BEST holiday there is!" The mayor replied. "Now, look here, this is the..." Jack wasn't really listening at this point. He was shocked by how they had never celebrated another holiday but Halloween before!  
"Jack! Jack! Jack Skeleton!" The mayor said, clapping his hands together loudly. Jack was shaken from his thoughts.  
"Hm? Oh, sorry. Um...not to be rude, but it's SkellINGton, not Skeleton." Jack said.  
"Oh. Sorry. Anyway, this is your new home. Would you like to take a look inside?" The mayor asked.  
"Sure. But um...do you think I could go in alone? Sorry, it's just-"  
"Say no more Jack! Go right ahead! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you need anything." The mayor said, walking away. Jack looked up at the Castle of a home.  
"Sure is big Zero..." Jack said. Zero hid behind Jack. "Aw it's fine, c'mon boy, let's go inside." Jack walked up the old, rickety steps. Zero whimpered from fear. Jack grabbed the old doorknob and gave it a turn. The old, rickety door opened up with an eerie crrreeeeaaaak, revealing an abandoned, dusty hallway, leading to a spiral stair case. Old paintings hung onto the walls. Jack observed each one of them. Zero made sure he stayed close by, always checking behind him. Once they were both at the end of the hallway, the old door shut with a loud SLAM! Jack and Zero spun around. The only light in the hallway was given off by a filthy, dusty window. It looked to Jack as though nobody had bothered to clean this place for years! Jack walked up the old, rickety stairs, despite the rising fear that with each step he took, he would fall through it. Zero simply refused to go up the stairs, so Jack had to carry him. "Scardy cat." Jack said, hoping it would lighten the eerie blanket of fear that hung over both of them. It didn't. Jack had finally made it up to the second floor. Each floor board creaked with every step he took. The smell of dust and mildew swarmed his nose. Jack found a light switch and turned it on. With a flicker and a spark, it seemed as thought the whole house came to life! Jack looked out the dusty window. He was high up. Really high. Jack put Zero down. He looked around his room. There was a bed, a fire place, a lamp, and books upon books. Jack had never seen so many books before! "Geeze Zero, you think I've got enough books?" He asked jokingly. Jack took a seat on the bed. As he did so, a big cloud of dust stirred up, making him cough. He got up and walked over to open his window. Jack had never seen a window quite like this one. It opened the same way a normal window did, but it looked different. Once again, he found that he could remember basic life, but no names or faces. He opened up the window and looked out. Jack looked down upon everybody going about their business. The town seemed normal, aside from the fact that it was occupied and ran by ghouls from Halloween. Jack liked this. He liked all of it. "Zero, I think I'm just about ready to call this home." Zero barked in reply. "We need to get you a doggy bed boy." Jack said, puppy-talking Zero. Zero spun around, chasing his tail. "Hmm..." Jack walked down stairs. Zero stood at the top, afraid to go down. Jack looked up. "Are you serious? What's the matter? They're stairs." He couldn't help but smile a little. "Fine." He said, walking back up the stairs and picking him up. He walked down the stairs again and put him down. He opened up the door revealing glorious afternoon sunlight. The crisp, fall air spread into the house, over powering the musty smell from before. Jack stepped outside, taking in the fresh air. He looked around for a clock. "Excuse me, sir, do you have the time?" He asked.  
"5:30 pm." The monster replied.  
"Thanks. Have a good day!" Jack said.  
"You as well ." The monster went back to his own schedule.  
"Skellington." Jack muttered under his breath. That had really gotten on his nerves. But he let it go. The sun had already began to set. Brilliant colors of red, orange, and yellow blended into the sky. Zero trotted along beside him.  
"Jack! Jack! Thank goodness! Jack! I need your help with this! Quick!" It was the Mayor's voice. Jack hurried over to him, Zero not far behind.  
"Yeah? What's the matter Mayor?" Jack asked.  
"I need your advice about next year's Halloween plans. Now, do you think that the fog should begin to form from the lake or-"  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you mean, 'next Halloween?' didn't Halloween just pass?" Jack asked.  
"Yes! Now there's only 364 more days until next Halloween! We've got no time to lose!" The mayor responded.  
"Um... OK, sure. O-on the lake I suppose..." Jack said, not really bothering with that right now. "But Mr. Mayor, I had a question for you."  
"Ask away my boy!" The mayor chimed cheerfully.  
"Well, I was wondering if you knew of any places I could get a dog bed for Zero." Jack replied.  
"There is a store, but you'd have to go to it tomorrow, it's closed now. But, back to Halloween, when should it begin to fog up? Before the guests arrive, right when they arrive, or right before they leave?" The mayor said, taking a seat at an outside picnic table. Jack took a seat too, seeing that there was no way for him to get out of this one. He knew he was going to be here a while, so he decided to focus on this, hoping it would be over with soon enough.  
"Uh..." Jack rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Right when they arrive." The mayor scribbled this down onto his note pad and made some adjustments to his plans.  
"Good, good. Now, when should we start the music? Or do you think we should have that playing when the guests arrive?"  
"Have it playing already." Jack said.  
"Or, it could start in mid party." The Mayor said, scribbling something else down onto his notepad. Jack rubbed his temples. He had had a long day, and needed to get to sleep. He could see that the Mayor really was intrigued. After what seemed like EONS, Jack checked his watch.  
"11: 17 pm" Jack said to himself. "Oi..." The mayor was still writing down his plans on the charts. "Um...with all due respect Mr Mayor, but I should really be getting to bed..." Jack said, trying hard not to sound rude. The mayor looked up.  
"Hmm? Oh! You could have left hours ago! I said so earlier. You seemed deep in thought. Go! Get lots of rest! Lots of planning to do tomorrow!" The Mayor replied.  
"Yay..." Jack said in his head sarcastically.  
"Goodnight mayor." Jack said as he stood up. He looked down to see Zero, fast asleep at the foot of the bench. Jack bent over and picked him up. "Oh Zero," Jack sighed, walking home. "What kind of crazy train is this town driving?" Jack walked into his new home, turning on the lights. "Much better." He said to himself. He put Zero down on his bed and lied down next to him. He heard a noise outside of his window. Jack got up and took a look. He saw the silhouette of someone. A girl! She looked to be about his age too. It hadn't occurred to Jack that he hadn't seen a girl in this town yet! Well at least, as far as he knew. It was kind of hard to tell with some of these monsters. He watched the girl run into a nearby grave sight. Just what every cozy little home needs. A grave sight. Jack yawned sleepily and decided he'd investigate on that more tomorrow. For now, he wanted to sleep. He turned off the lights and walked into bed. "Good night, Zero," Jack said, pulling the blankets over his pet and himself as well. "Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe I will wake up with full memory, you, and a family." Jack said. "Yeah, right." He laughed silently and closed his eyes, wondering about what tomorrow would bring him.


End file.
